When I’m playing in a pro-am or an outing for a sponsor, I usually struggle to explain my short-game technique if I’m put on the spot. I stand there and have to think really hard about what I do. People say I’ve got all the shots around the green anyone could ever need, but I’ve been hitting them over and over since I was 10. The motions are second nature. But I still want to be helpful, so I’ve figured out two main things I can say about my chipping.
▶ First, I’m trying to hole every chip shot. That might sound silly, but that’s the mindset golfers should have when they walk up to their ball to take a look – even a beginner. It focuses your attention and gets you seeing the slopes and how the grass is growing all the way to the cup. You’ll be thinking about what you want the ball to do rather than the club. When you’re under pressure and thinking about the club, it rarely turns out well. At least that’s the way it is for me.
▶ Second, I’m a big believer in doing things the way you’re most comfortable. I hit 99 percent of greenside shots with my lob wedge, which is a 58-degree with 6 degrees of bounce. Americans come over for the Open Championship and think they ought to start chipping with longer irons. But if a bump-and-run is a new shot to them, that isn’t the one they’ll see under the gun. I’ve heard countless pros claim their method for a shot is the best, but if I’ve learned anything in my career, it’s that there are a lot of ways to play this game. As long as your technique is halfway decent, you can play great. (Which is why I recommend taking one lesson from an instructor to get some fundamentals right. And sorry, I’m not your man for that.)
▶ Try to hole the shot with the technique you find most comfortable – that’s my whole chipping philosophy.
Beyond that, I’ve got a few tips on some basic short-game shots – just little things I’ve learned that work for me. They might just help you, too. – with Max Adler
Tough Lies
I live in Florida now, and it took me a while to get used to this Bermuda rough. It’s grainy, and even if it’s cut short, the ball can nestle low and be difficult to control.
‘With bermuda rough, you’ve got to keep your speed up. slow down, and the club sticks in the ground. So try to hit a little draw.’
The mistake is to stand open and cut across it. An out-to-in swing path works great on rye or bentgrass, where you can slow down around impact and let the ball pop up. But do that in Bermuda, and the club sticks in the ground. You’ve got to keep your speed up with Bermuda. That’s why I like to set up square, or even a little closed, and feel my hands trying to hit a draw. You might not see a draw in the short flight of a chip, but the way the ball bounces and releases forward lets you know you’ve done it right. If you need the ball to stop quickly after it lands, you can still think, draw, but purposefully hit it a tad heavy like a bunker shot. You’ll take a good divot, and the ball will come out softly and settle.
High and Soft
If you tend to butcher the delicate shots, mind your grip. My routine is two parts: first, I like to hold the grip in my right hand only and let the clubface fall open. For a full-on flopper, I’ll get the clubface looking directly at the sky like a spatula. For a mid-trajectory shot, something between a standard chip and a flop, I let the clubface fall open just a few degrees to add some loft. Second, I place my left hand on the grip. I want the back of it pointing to the target, so the most I see on that hand are two knuckles. This ensures a weak grip, which is key for soft shots. Finally, I make sure I’m not squeezing the handle tightly. We all tend to hold the club harder when we get nervous, which makes chips come out fast and hot.
Practice
My coach, Neil Manchip, is also the coach for the boys and girls of the Golfing Union of Ireland. He has dozens of skills tests he gives these kids – games where you can’t advance until you hole a shot, or you’re forced to use a variety of clubs to hit the same shot, etc. Neil gives me the same tests, and we’ll have a bit of fun placing small wagers.
I particularly like a game where I must hit nine chips from several spots before using up 30 feet. How it works is, if I hit the first chip to 10 feet from the cup, I have 20 feet remaining. But if I hit the next chip to a foot, I then have 19 feet remaining. We’ll do a mix of shots of reasonable difficulty. The best I’ve ever done is still having five feet left at the end. One of these days, I’ll do even better.
The takeaway is: variety is the key to practice. Even trying shots you’d never use in competition has tremendous value. You won’t see great short games from guys who just drop a bag of practice balls in one spot and hardly move.
Bunker
In my opinion, Padraig Harrington is the best bunker player in the world. Three years ago, I was in a hotel and flicked on the tube, and there was Padraig doing an instruction program. He talked about keeping weight on his left side during the entire bunker shot, backswing and through-swing. I’d always favoured my right leg, hanging back perhaps to make sure the club entered the sand a couple of inches behind the ball. The next morning, I tried Padraig’s way, and everything clicked. Instead of coming in shallow, I felt like I was coming more over the top to strike the sand. Ever since, I’ve been able to do whatever I want with bunker shots. Funny how life works out.
‘Try to hole bunker shots, too. there’s no harm to hope, unless you’re in real trouble. It’s when you think about only getting it close that you get sloppy.’
You’ll notice in these pictures that I stand square to the target line with my left foot flared. I think edging those front toes more towards the flag encourages the clubhead to release smoothly past the wrists through the sand. But that’s just me.
a quick word on plugged lies:
My way is to close the face so it’s pointing a hair left of the target, then really chop down on it, feeling like I’m exploding the ball out with the heel of the club. Then, as you can see from my ball mark, I just hope for the luck of the Irish.
